China lifts quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in Covid cases.
Beijing last month began a dramatic dismantling of a hardline virus strategy that had enforced mandatory quarantines and gruelling lockdowns.
The containment policy has tanked China’s economy and sparked nationwide protests.
In the final unravelling of those rules, Sunday will see inbound travellers to China no longer required to quarantine.
Since March 2020, all arrivals had been forced to undergo isolation at centralised government facilities. This decreased from three weeks to one week this summer, and to five days in November.
Despite the testing requirements, 28-year-old Zhang Kai told AFP he is planning a trip to either South Korea or Japan.
‘I am happy, now finally (I can) let go,’ Zhang said.
Friends of his have already landed in Japan and undergone tests, which he dismissed as a ‘small matter’.
Across Asia, tourist hubs are preparing for a surge in Chinese visitors.
At a crepe stand in Seoul, Son Kyung-rak said he was making plans to deal with a flood of tourists.
‘We’re looking to hire and preparing to stock up,’ the 24-year-old told AFP in Seoul’s popular downtown Myeongdong district.
‘Chinese tourists are our main customers, so the more the merrier.’
